Ag Commissioner Aubertine resigns to pursue other options

Darrel J. Aubertine announced today that he has resigned as commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, and his last day on the job will be Wednesday.

Mr. Aubertine said Friday that he turned in his letter of resignation last week for the position, after serving three years. He said that he is now considering three job opportunities, one of which is in the public sector.

Really, the motivation behind this decision was there were a couple of opportunities that have come along, Mr. Aubertine said.

Mr. Aubertine said he met with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo about a month ago to talk about the future of the department, and he made the decision to resign at that time.

I sat down face-to-face with him about a month ago and had a good conversation about where the agency would go in the future, he said. The fact that I would explore other opportunities was discussed, and we left on very good terms.

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